Washington D.C. to Baltimore

Today I changed my ear-worm from “Almost heaven, West Virginia” (John Denver) to “Good morning Baltimore” (Hairspray). Yes, I know I skipped D.C., but no songs about D.C. immediately came to mind.

But before I departed D.C., I walked over to the National Gallery of Art for last taste of a Smithsonian Museum. The place is, of course, huge and, in fact, encompasses two buildings, the West wing (classical art) and the East wing (contemporary art and special exhibitions). Given that I had limited time, I targeted particular collections.

In the West wing, I visited the Rodin sculptures (always a favorite) and also viewed some Degas sculptures (the dance theme from his paintings continues). I stopped to see the few Rembrandts that are held on this side of the Atlantic, then went straight to my perennial favorite, the impressionist galleries. They have a Monet the I had never seen before (early, I suspect, prior to his Giverny period) and several Cezanne paintings with which I was unfamiliar.

I then headed over to the East Wing to see the special exhibition of Philip Guston . I was completely unfamiliar with this artist. While I did not love all of his work from an aesthetic point of view, the background and evolution was very interesting, and I could appreciate the intent behind the art. Guston was born Phillip Goldstein, to immigrant Ukrainian Jewish parents. This likely fueled his lifelong sensitivity to injustice, which drove his work. There were other themes and motifs as well, but depicting racial hatred and injustice was a continuing theme.

A completely separate room displayed a large number of cartoons depicting Richard Nixon, eventually assembled into a book, called Poor Richard . This was very different work than his paintings, and showed the breath of talent of the artist. I was very glad I made the time, as Guston is a new artist to me and I was glad to learn of his life and work.

As I was walking out, one of the docents asked if I had made it up to view another special exhibition by Robert Longo called Engines of State. This installation was not advertised and was tucked away in the top of the third tower. Unfortunately many people will miss these astounding works of art. They comprise depictions of the three branches of government, executive (the White House), legislative (the Capitol building) and judicial (the Supreme Court). Each piece is huge and covers an entire wall. My initial impression was that they were black and white photographs. Well done, but nothing all that special except for the size. After reading the information and upon closer inspection, I realized that each was a charcoal drawing. You had to stick your nose right in the drawing to see the lines. Apparently he did work from photographs, and an interesting point to me is that he did not correct the perspective. In other words, he could have exercised artistic license and made all of the lines parallel, as if a rectilinear lens was used, or - as can now be done - adjustment in Lightroom or Photoshop. But for the White House and Supreme Court he left the sides leaning in. I thought it was an interesting choice.

On my circuitous route to find Engines of State, I happened upon an entire two rooms of Mark Rothko abstracts, which I believe are part of the permanent collection. The gentlemen I spoke to while I was there (himself a painter) explained to me that Rothko preferred that his pieces all be exhibited together, rather than being mixed with those of other artists. This exhibition certainly honors that preference.

Then it really was time to go. I walked back to my hotel, finished packing up, and drove the short distance to Baltimore, where I will have a couple of days to explore the city. I have been here before for a work conference, and we had a free afternoon, so I am somewhat familiar with what the city has to offer. Obviously I hope to find some less obvious destinations. I also hope to restore some of the equanimity that I have gained during this trip, that was strained during my visit to the chaotic and complicated city-state of Washington D.C. Stay tuned.